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Now we have the whole lower body animated and we can move on to the upper body.…Now, what we need to do here is put in a little bit of our body turn as well as…work with the hands.…So, let me show you where we are at right now.…So, we have the lower body animated.…Now, one of the things I've done just in the sake of time is I've actually…animated the hands a little bit.…So, let me show you where we at, at this point.…I've just kind of animated the hands coming down to the side and we're going to…actually do some more hand animation to actually do the poses of the character,…but also what I want to do is actually put in a little bit of a body turn,…because right now she is kind of facing a little bit to her right, and I want…kind of pull her body a little bit more forward.…

So, we can do that by animating just this upper part of the body.…So it's a little bit more centered.…So let's go ahead and do that.…Now, as she comes into this pose, you can see that she actually sets down her…foot at frame 22 and then slides up into this pose.…

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Author

Released

11/13/2009

All animators must learn to walk before they can run. In 2D Character Animation, industry expert George Maestri teaches the basic principles every animator must know to build a foundation for more complex work. These principles are relevant regardless of software used or animation style. George explains how good animation depends on a firm knowledge of the laws of motion, which inform the principles of animation. He teaches the basics of creating characters, squash and stretch, pose-to-pose animation, walking and running, track reading, and dialogue animation. He also shows how to use After Effects and Flash to apply the tools learned in the course. Exercise files accompany this course.

Topics include:

Creating character joints that really work

Building with the Puppet tool in After Effects

Understanding internal versus external forces in movement

Reading tracks and assigning mouth shapes for dialogue

Setting up a scene in both After Effects and Flash

Skill Level Advanced

5h 50m

Duration

529,704

Views

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Q: In the chapter "Creating joints that work,” the author uses a circular point for the joints in the arm animation. Do circles need to be drawn in the joints while tracing the character, or there is another method that can be used?

A: It doesn't absolutely have to be a circle, as shown in the video. However, that method is show because it’s the easiest way to make sure the joints will rotate easily.
It’s a matter of personal preference, so use whatever method will work best for each character.